A Veiled Gazelle: Seeing How to See

"And among the wondrous things is a veiled gazelle: a Divine Subtlety, veiled by a state of the Self, Referring to the States of those who know. Unable To explain their perceptions to others, they can only indicate them to whoever has started to feel something similar. . . ." --Muhiyuddin Ibn El-Arabi, The Interpreter of Desires

The title, A Veiled Gazelle, is taken from this beautiful poem by 12th-century mystic, Ibn Arabi. The "gazelles" are extraordinary experiences and perceptions latent in ordinary man. "Veiling" refers to the action of the subjective or "commanding" self, which partly through indoctrination and partly through base aspirations, prevents higher vision.

Says Shah in the introduction: "Sufi poetry, literature, tales and activities are the instruments which, when employed with insight and prescription rather than automatically or obsessively, help in the relationship between Sufi and pupil, toward the removal of the veils."

This book is a remarkable working example of these instruments.